Bathing cap



17, 1951 v. H. HURT BATHING CAP Filed April 8, 1949 NVENTOR. 146m? A 640%? ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 17, 1951 V BATHING oAP Victor H. Hurt,Cranston, R. 1., assignor to United States Rubber Company, New York, N. corporation of New Jersey Application April .8, 1949, Serial No. 86,236

3 Claims. (01. 2-68) F This invention relates to bathing caps and more particularly to the'construction of water excluding means provided at the. inner face of the cap i Bathing caps as constructed heretofore'maybe considered as falling into two 'classes' The first class consists of caps' -of waterproof material waves will impart to the ribs increased resistance to a force that tends to press them into contact with the inner face of the cap. This causes the adapted 'to enclose the head and to fit tightly about the head but have a smooth inner face and no special mean near the edge of the cap to provide a water-tight seal" between the cap and head. The second type consists of bathin caps in which ribs, vacuum cups and other means are provided at the inner face of the cap near the edge thereof to prevent water from entering I between the marginal edge area-of the cap and the head. The present invention is directed to this second type of cap." g I Many attempts havebeen made heretofore to provide waterproof bathing caps which will effectively prevent water from entering the'cap when the wearer dives or lowers her head below the surface of the water, but it has been very dimcult to devise a cap which will exclude water without embracingthe head so tightly that it is uncomfortable to wear.

this usually occurs in the vicinity of the neck or ears and not in the area of the forehead.

The present invention is directed to a bathing cap to be worn so tightly upon the head that it presses uncomfortably against the skin ofLthe wearer. More specifically the present invention contemplates a bathing cap having an outer edge around the head receiving opening, and having secured to its inner face near such edge as a water'excluding means one or more flexible serpentine ribs, each of which is so constructed that it normally extends outwardly from the inner face of the cap and downwardly at an acute angle to such face. When the cap is worn the pressure of these ribs against the forehead, face, neck and other portion of the head of the wearer will cause them to bend and lay close to the inner face of the cap, but preferably not in direct contact with such face, to thereby prevent water from entering the capfand wetting the hair of the wearer.

Each of these ribs is given a downward inclination and is made wavy or has a serpentine configuration, so that these waves may straighten out as the cap is stretched, and also so that these.

When water finds its way into the cap and wets the hair of the wearercap provided withribs of special contruction and which serve very effectively to preventwater from entering the cap, without requiring the ribs, when the cap is worn, to yieldingly and comfortably engage the skin of the wearer of the cap 'to prevent water from entering the cap.

A- further feature of the present invention resides in the construction wherein the ribs increase in depth progressively from the lowermost to the uppermost rib, to thereby enable the outer edge of the cap to lie in direct contact with the skin of the wearer, and not be held spaced slightly therefrom by the lowest rib.

The above and other features of the present invention will be further understood from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein Fig. 1 shows the head of a woman wearing a cap constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view through the front portion of the cap of Fig. 1 showing the inner face of the cap and ribs.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view through a marginal edge portion of the cap of Fig. 1 showing the ribs in their normal position and free from the bending pressure to which they are subjected when the cap is worn.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 3 and shows the cap as'it appears when it is worn and the ribs are pressed inwardly towards the inner face of the bathing cap.

Fig. 5 is an inner face view of a portion of the cap of the present invention showing the ribs as they appear when the cap is not worn and the ribs are free from pressure as in Fig. 3; and

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view ofya modification of the cap of Fig. 1,'showing the inner face of the cap and a different arrangement of the ribs from that of Fig. 1.

The bathing cap shown in the drawing is designated in its entirety by the numeral l0 and is constructed to enclose the head of the wearer and has the outer edge I I. From this edge there extends downwardly at each side of the cap an anchor portion I 2 to which a chin strap i3 is secured by any suitable buckle or fastening M. The cap so far described by reference numerals may be given various shapes and styles and may be constructed of various types'of elastic material, but is preferably formed of rubber having sufficient elasticity and stretch to embrace the head snugly but comfortably when worn."

In accordance with the present invention the cap I0 is provided at its inner face with oneor wardly a still greater distance from the inner face of the cap as clearly shown in Fig. 3. This is desirable as it permits the lower edge [2 of the cap to lie in contact with the'skin S'of the wearer of the cap as shown in Fig. 4, whereas if the lowermost rib [5 should extend outwardly as far as the uppermost rib H, the rib I5 might hold the lower edge of the cap out of direct contact with the skin S. This of course, would be. undesirable, and could also be avoided by spacing the lowest rib further back from the edge I I than shown in the drawing. Each rib is formed integral with the cap and is provided with a relatively thick base portion l8 where it is at tached to the cap. This spreading base helps each rib to resist forces that tend to press the rib flat against the innerface of the cap. It is preferable that when the cap is worn these ribs will be pressed or bent inwardly by the normal pressure exerted by the cap body against the skin of the wearer as shown in Fig. 4, but this pressure should not be sufficient to force such ribs into contact with the inner face of. the cap.

Since these ribs !5, l8 and il increasethe amount of rubber in the vicinity of the edge portion of the cap, they make this portion of the cap harder to stretch than it would be if these ribs were'omitted, and if this resistance to stretch is very great the cap may embrace the head so tightl that it will be uncomfortable to wear. To avoid this difficulty the ribs l5, l6 and I! are given a wavy or serpentine configuration as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 5. This serpen tine configuration makes the edgeportion of the cap easier to stretch than would be the case if these ribs were straight and this serpentine configuration also helps the ribs to resist a pressing force that tends to force them flat against the inner wall of the cap. That is non-wavy ribs would be easier to press flat against the cap than are the wavy ribs shown.

It will be seen from the foregoing that the ribs contemplated by the present invention are wavy or serpentine and normally extend outwardly and downwardly at an acute angle to the inner face of the cap so that they can be bent inwardly, and that the when the cap is worn each rib will press yieldingly against the skin of the person wearing the cap as clearly shown in Fig. 4, to thereby prevent water from creep-- ing past these ribs into the cap to wet the hair of the wearer. The wavy configuration of these ribs and their downward inclination at an acute angle to the wall of the cap both cooperate to make the cap comfortable and at the same time keep the water out. As long as a rib is not forced into direct contact with the inner face of the cap it can yield relatively to such face to exert an adequate pressure against the skin of the wearer.

While three ribs are shown in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive as forming a highly satisfactory construction, one or more ribs may be employed,

4 and these ribs need not extend entirely around the head since very little difficulty is experienced in preventing water from entering the bathing cap in the vicinity of the forehead. In the modified construction shown in Fig. 6 the bathing cap [9 is shown as having two sepentine ribs and 2| in the rear area of the cap, and a third rib 22 in the vicinity of the ears. All three of these ribs terminate at a point forward of the ears of the wearer, and the front portion of the cap is shown as having two relatively round beads 23 and 24 in place of the serpentine ribs provided in the rear area of the cap.

It has been found'from actual experience that a cap constructed as shown in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive and having three outwardly and downwardly inclined serpentine ribs, is comfortable to wear and is highly effective in excluding water and keeping the hair dry.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. An elastic waterproof bathingcap having an outer edge, and-having secured to its inner face near said edge as a water excluding strip a relatively thin, flexible, serpentine rib formed so that it normally extends outwardly from the inner face of the cap and downwardly at an acute angle to such inner face, the resistance of said rib to a force tending to press it flat against the inner wall of the cap being substantially increased by the series of arcs formed. by the serpentine shape of the rib.

2. An elastic waterproof bathing cap having an outer edge, and having secured to its inner face near said edge as water excluding strips a plurality of spaced, relatively thin, wavy ribs each being formed so that it normally extends outwardly from the inner face of the cap and downwardly at an acutelangle to, such inner face, the resistance of .each rib, to a'force tending to press it flat against the inner wall of the cap being substantially increased by the series of arcs formed by the Wavy shape of the ribs.

3. An elastic waterproof bathing cap having an outer edge, and havingsecured to its inner face near said edge as Water excluding strips a plurality of spaced, relatively. thin, wavy ribs of progressively increasing. size from the lower to the upper rib and each rib being formed so that it normally extendsou-twardly from the inner face of the cap and downwardly at an acute angle to such inner face, the resistance of each rib to a-forcetending to press it flat against the inner wall of the cap being substantially increased by the series of arcs formed by the wavy shape of the ribs.

VICTOR H. HURT.

REFERENCES CITED The following referencesare of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

